In honor of the World Series starting today we have one heck of a baseball coach on the podcast! Rachel Balkovec is the Director of Player Development, Miami Marlins after serving in various roles with the Chicago White Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, Houston Astros and the New York Yankees. One of the topics we talk on the show is how difficult it was for her to get into baseball because she is a woman. This conversation was incredible, and shout out to Rachel for her ability to push through to eventually make her dream come true. In the convo Rachel and Justin also talk X's and O's of baseball S&C, leadership, and much more. Full convo here: youtube.com/watch?v=0mJJFpvo…

S&C coaches from all sports turn to SCN for education. Take it from former MiLB S&C and rehab coach R.J. Guyer and why he trusts SCN for continued education. Continued education for coaches got better with our new admin dashboard which allows staffs to bundle and save on each membership and course for their staff. Once inside the dashboard coaches can assign webinars, courses, or both to individual coaches, group of coaches, or whole staff. In this way con't ed doesn't become a box to check, it becomes the standard your staff lives by. Learn more here: strengthcoachnetwork.com/ins…

With the 5 strength and conditioning coach limitation in football removed what does this mean for S&C coaches? Hear from legendary S&C coach Joe @bighousepower Kenn in his blog post on how this new rule can make S&C great. "The NCAA has once again made a significant change affecting college football, and this time the decision directly impacts the strength and conditioning profession. The removal of the five-strength-coach limitation in FBS football opens the door for universities to expand their strength and conditioning staffs. On the surface, this appears to be a tremendous opportunity for our profession. More positions, more opportunities, and potentially more resources dedicated to preparing student-athletes for success." Full blog here: strengthcoachnetwork.com/blo…

Your weight room layout dictates the program you can write. In this week's Cheeky Mid Weeky Justin is joined by Coach Travis Reust, M.Ed., MSCC, RSCC*D, who is the Strength & Conditioning Coordinator at Temple Independent School District in Temple, Texas. Travis has more than 20 years of experience in strength and conditioning, Reust has worked across NCAA Division I and II athletics, Texas public schools, and the U.S. Army. He even worked with professional athletes when they were home during the off-season. In this way Coach Reust has a unique experience working with athletes in all sectors of S&C - high school, college, professional, and TSAC What is the common denominator? Programs that make sense logistically. Sure, you may want to program certain exercises paired together, but do you have the space for it? Sure the textbooks might tell you one thing but what can you actually program in YOUR weight room? If you only have 1 barbell at the rack you cannot program BB Bench Press and BB Bent Over Row together. This is something that Missy highlighted weeks ago and Travis hits home in this episode. He also shares his insights on how to build relationships with coaches/athletes, working with pro athletes, getting started in high school S&C, and more. Click below for the full convo: youtube.com/watch?v=gJ3q4lOh…

Always happy for other S&C coaches success. Coach Ryan Reynolds and the KC Chiefs are off to a great start and they are a big part. Are they the sole reason? Nope. Have they helped? 100% Shout out to the leadership of Ryan who has learned from some of the best S&C in the world, including @coach_Doyle whom @Dr_JustinLima also worked with.

Data without context is dangerous. We've said it a ton of times and will keep saying it until companies and coaches start putting context with their data they put out. One of the OGs of S&C Coach Donnell Boucher @akaCoachD was amazing at this. Back when he was at The Citadel Coach Boucher would post the time of day, weather, timing system, and build up distance into the report he would share with the data. This needs to become the new normal. Who cares the time posted if we don't know anything about it. -Was there a 1 yard lead into the sprint? -Was there a 5 yard lead in? -Was there no lead in and hand time? -What surface did the athletes run on? -What time of the day was it? -How hot/cold was it? All of this matters and NONE of it is shared with you the coach when you see companies or coaches telling you what "an elite male high school athlete should run a 40 in" or "how your athlete compares to an NFL player." Stop with all of that. @Dr_JustinLima wrote a blog talking about Coach Boucher's practices and how S&C coaches now a days can apply them. Read that blog here: strengthcoachnetwork.com/blo…

Hear Coach Kaz explain why you cannot be the same person in every room you are in. This might fly in the face of how you do something is how you do everything, that is ok. You still strive for excellence, professionalism, etc...but you are not the EXACT same person in every room. You need to learn how to move and communicate in different rooms so you can lead well. For more expert advice from Coach Kaz click here: youtube.com/watch?v=XULVIGPF…

Back in July there was a big push and lots of energy for H.R.9527 - STRONG Act Here is an update, there are two cosponsors to Rep Owens: - Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks from Iowa - Representative Gregory F. Murphy from North Carolina Learn about cosponsors: congress.gov/bill/119th-cong… It is October and Strength Coaches we need you to call and in get touch with your reps. Maybe you even do what @htomlin6 from @teambuildr did and meet people in person. This topic matters. Call, email, get in front of your rep so we can make S&C great for the future. If you need to know who to email and what to say click: strengthcoachnetwork.com/STR…